Out of This World
by stevebond1990
Summary: First I was a Vault Dweller, then I was a Merc, then I was a Knight, then I was a Hero. After that I was a Wanderer, then I was a Courier, Then I was a Ranger, Then they made me a Lab Rat. Now I'm lost, on a Starship called Normandy, I'm drinking buddies with a Cripple, a Pirate, a Merc and a Vigilante. I'm taking orders from a Ghost and in love with an Ice Queen. Just Another Day.
1. Chapter 1

Out of this World

A groan escapes me as harsh orange light leaves my eyes burning; I blink furiously to clear my vision as I sit up and gaze upon the source of my agony… orange street lights?

I look around me to find that I'm in the middle of an alley between two large modular containers forming a row of apartments that looked similar to a settlement outside Sacramento made from repurposed railway cargo vans.

I rise to my feet; grateful I wasn't wearing power armour, and stepped out into the main road. Looking along the road in both directions, I saw that the immediate area was largely made of these modules and formed a series of loose courtyards and streets around a central area I could only call 'a village green'. On the far side of the green were a couple of larger modules with large signs on the sides. I started walking towards the larger modules, hoping to find something that could tell me where I was.

As I crossed the green, I noticed the modules all looked standardised and mass produced (in and of itself nothing unusual but the design itself seemed odd, alien even), the asphalt beneath my feet didn't _FEEL_ like asphalt beneath my boots and the street lights weren't running off wires to nearby fission cells. I was starting to feel a coldness filling my stomach, the likes I hadn't felt since I was a lab rat at Big Mountain.

I reached the line of modules and looked at the signs on each one; a recruitment poster for the _'Systems Alliance Marines'_ the poster showing a rather pretty woman with fiery red hair and bright green eyes, high cheekbones and a patch of freckles on her nose wearing a sleek black coloured armoured suit holding a curved rifle with two barrels in an 'over and under' arrangement with the designation 'M7' on the fore grip.  
The second poster showed a man in a blue dress uniform with a type of kepi cap that had gold trim like the old 19th century civil war Union uniforms, the man was saluting and there was also a patriotic slogan in gold lettering next to him, this time for the 'Systems Alliance Navy', but what caught my eye was the object in the background.

It was a vague wedge shape; roughly triangular at the rear with a large vertical section between two sweeping wings that angled a little over 900 from the vertical centre. There were a couple of what appeared to be engines at the rear attached to the wings and there appeared to be a spinal cannon mounted in the centre vertical hull.

I stared at the picture for several moments, not quite comprehending as my mind reached the only logical conclusion… a starship? On a recruitment poster? Instead of an advert for a pre-war movie or sci-fi novel?

Then… that means… humanity made it into space? But how? We bombed ourselves back into the 17th century: no modern transport, no major cities, cottage industries, still rediscovering our own world.

The only spaceship anywhere near Earth was the one I was abducted to, captured and turned into an orbital research station and refuge.

I look to the next building and see it's the equivalent of a Super-Duper Mart, minus the raiders of course, but the third building was what made me stop.

'_New Berlin Transit Station, scheduled departures: Current date July 15__th__ 2185, next scheduled departures: Ganymede orbital station, 17__th__ July 21:30, Titan station 17__th__ July 22:45, Utopia colony Spaceport, Mars 19__th__ July 10:35.'_

Titan, Ganymede and Mars?

'Dogmeat, we aren't in D.C anymore'

As the information sinks in, looking up I can see stars, so as this place has breathable air that rules out anywhere in the solar system.  
Which means… I'm on another planet in another star system, with a mix of antique guns, energy weapons, twenty thousand bottle caps and ten thousand NCR dollars.

'I'm screwed.'

"Hold it."

'Correction, _now_ I'm screwed.'

I turn to one side to see a man and a woman in similar armour to the woman in the recruitment poster but with a different collar badge and a red cap that screams 'Provost', well the best place to go for help is probably the authorities.

"Can I help you, officer?" I ask as they approach, the pair are holding their hands close to a sidearm on their thighs, probably held in place by a magnetic strip like on power armour.

"Yeah, who are you and why are you here?" the woman demands rudely, her partner gives her an exasperated look and is about to speak but I cut him off.

"My name is not important, hasn't been since I became a mercenary five years ago, as for why I'm here? I honestly don't know, or even where here is, I woke up in an alley on the far side of the green," I reply evenly, pointing to the just visible alley entrance.

The woman doesn't look impressed but her partner _appears_ to be considering my story. "I don't know how I got here and I can barely remember anything about myself since I left my old home five years ago, I was hoping to find shelter and perhaps some food and drink before finding a way back but that doesn't seem likely," I continue, noting the woman looking at my pip-boy as I do.

"Probably not," the man agrees, giving a slight hand signal to his partner, "Look we're going to have to take you to the station because you're out after curfew but hopefully we can get things sorted in the morning," he says, ignoring the look his partner gives him.

"That's probably best," I agree. "I was about to start looking for the local police station any way, may I ask the reason for the curfew?"

"A number of colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems have been attacked, no signs of battle or that anything bad had happened except that everyone is missing," answers the woman grudgingly.  
"Slavers?" I ask, my tone darkening enough for them to notice.  
"We don't know, but that's what most think and I'd normally agree but… the attacks are too clean for slavers," the man replies, gesturing for me to follow and quietly explaining what was known to be found at one of the missing colonies after an attack.  
"It's not unheard of for slavers to 'police their brass' but I've never heard of it done to such an extent," I say quietly, angered and disturbed by the possibility.  
My escorts quietly agree with me as they lead me to the local police station, which is attached to the local marine garrison.  
Once there, I'm led to a cell after they find out I don't exist on their system and told I'll be woken to record some details and receive an ID. I drift off to sleep wondering what the hell happened.

* * *

The next morning, I was woken up by the male officer who brought me in last night and brought to an office with several other personnel and what looked like holographic terminal screens like the couple I'd seen in the Sink, Officer Jason Baker, my escort, had me enter my approximate details into their system (he didn't know that though).

I was then put through a scanner several times as their equipment couldn't get a good read on me, a previous advantage now a liability. The revelation about my many adaptations and my artificial heart, spine and right eye were also received with astonishment. I did request that this information be classified as I didn't want to end up being experimented on in a lab _again_.

I was also given an omni-tool and several blank credit chits in order to help facilitate my reorientation, the officer handling data entry had accepted that I had never left Earth before and had virtually no knowledge of the wider galaxy, I also applied for and received Systems Alliance citizenship.

I spent the rest of the day with Jason, learning about the new world I was now a part of, he explained the first contact war, the citadel council, alien races, and even human history, proving to be a very patient man.

He had just begun to explain about the Eden Prime war two years prior when a klaxon sounded, sending most of the civilians running and the marines and police in to a frantic dash to the garrison building.

We charge out of the café to find a ship descending towards the colony, as we watch a spread of missiles are launched and arc down over the colony, the majority impact across a wide area doing scattered damage but a dozen impact around the garrison buildings, likely targeting the garrison and it's handful of M-35 IFVs.

Just as the noise from the impacts died, a voice broadcast from the ship above announced for us to surrender ourselves and prepare for our new lives as slaves. The announcement makes my blood boil.

Jason told me over the chaos to find shelter, but I gripped his shoulder and told him I was going to fight, whether he wanted me to or not, "I'll not stand idly by as these people are robbed of their homes, families and lives. I have never left someone to the '_mercy'_ of any slaver and I'll be damned if I start now," I said, unslinging my MK II battle rifle.  
He looks at me but grudgingly nods, before leading me to the makeshift checkpoint where the rest of his team is waiting.

I take a position on the right of the barricade, on top of one of the buildings, lying prone with my rifle steadied on a set of sand bags. I hear someone nearby scoff that I'm using an outdated weapon, I _know_ I'm using an antique by their standards but the kinetic barriers these people use are designed to stop a low density high velocity projectile, I'm betting they can't cope with a high density low velocity projectile, but just in case the actual armour is any good I'm using tungsten tipped armour piercing rounds.

I hear someone else note that it looks like an M-14 from the twentieth century, which was almost true as it _was_ based off of a surviving M-14 but was chambered for.308 and semi-automatic only, the stock was the wrong shape to have automatic fire with a full size cartridge and be accurate.

I am currently wearing the black Veteran Ranger armour Chief Hanlon had given me after I killed Caesar, with a few modifications like a rangefinder from a T-51b, a digital ammunition satchel that worked like a pip-boy but didn't add the mass to mine so didn't overburden me, a water jacket from a patrol ranger chestplate, the combat knife sheath from the same armour for my trench knife, a shoulder holster for my modified Compliance Regulator/ Laser pistol MK II and a thigh holster for my Ranger sequoia. On the left side of my back I've slung a modified AER-14 Laser rifle and I have both a Bowie knife and my oldest weapon on my belt.

We wait and watch as the slaver ship descends and lands behind a small ridge, they're letting us see the ship and know they're coming but protecting the ships engines from any possible retaliation in case we have heavy weapons.

We're forced to sit and wait as the slavers organise, I and the others on my vantage point can just make out figures moving on the ship's bridge and the ground forces assembling.

After a couple of minutes of tense waiting the first slavers appear, a handful, spread out and poorly led. The snipers on my level open fire but I save my shots, something feels off so I start looking over the heights above the approach, which is where I spot my prey. My augmented vision allows me to pick out a turian spotting our positions.

I shift slightly and take aim. I watch my target closely as I pull the trigger; I am able to see his kinetic barriers flash into existence, strain and collapse, then I see the material of the turian's breastplate deform as the tungsten tipped round impacts, causing a compressed ring to form as the projectile forces its way through the unknown material, I can even see shavings catch in the compressed ring as the bullet passes through the armour and enters the slavers body.

The spotter doesn't have time to blink as the bullet strikes him and he is thrown on his back, never to rise again.

The rest of the slavers realised their chance of an easy victory was over and began their attack in earnest, proving to be decently equipped but poorly led at the squad level.

The return fire toward the barricades was inaccurate but claimed two lives and wounded three others, the return fire claimed seven slavers, the slavers seemed to be a mix of turians (who could all shoot straight, unfortunately) and batarians (who couldn't seem able to hit the broadside of Rivet City).

I ducked instinctively as a turian bullet flies over my head, I reply in kind bringing down the shooter and his two friends, switching fire to a group of batarians that tries to storm the barricade as they get too close.

I keep firing into the mass of charging slavers until my clip empties, as I reload a rocket soars overhead. I look up to see three rocket launcher armed batarians aiming at me and my comrades. I take a few shots but a large blue hued shield appears, not enough to stop my shots but it slows them down enough for the trooper's shields to be effective.

As they reload, I switch to my laser rifle, drawing odd looks from the remaining marksman. I take aim and fire, the lack of recoil briefly feeling alien to me. One of the batarians is claimed by a bright green beam of light, I can just make out the surprise in his eyes as he falls, his two friends do a double take as I continue firing, killing one and reducing the next to ash.

I hear someone shout "HOLY SHIT!" as I return to firing on the skirmish line, killing four and turning two more to ash.

After trading fire for several minutes, one of my fellow snipers spots a group breaking off, followed by another. The bastards were running.

I switch out my rifles for the tesla cannon I stored in my pip-boy, the dematerialisation of my rifles and materialisation of the shoulder mounted energy cannon stunning the colony defenders enough to stop firing, allowing more of the slavers to fall back. I heft the large weapon onto my shoulder and take aim at the part of the bridge I can see _and_ shoot at.

I aim and fire.

The energy discharge ignores whatever shields that ship has up and tears through the bridge structure, ripping right through the hull and view port visible and likely scorching the crew to death and _definitely_ wrecking the control consoles.

The shot halts the slavers retreat, their only means of escape now grounded their only choice is to either die fighting or surrender…

The dumb bastards choose to fight.

I get up and fire down on the nearest group, barely flinching as several bullets pass by or strike my chestplate and shoulder guards, switching out the fusion cell as needed.

After a few minutes the majority of the ground forces are decimated, the handful left have already fallen back to the ship.

I turn to my pip-boy and select the Enclave Mk II plate I modified so long ago along with my custom Plasma Pulse Carbine and pistol (think of a cross between a Laser Rifle and Imperial Plasma weapons from 40K) before jumping down from my vantage point, the armour cushioning my fall a bit.

I ignore the cries coming from the other defenders and sprint towards the ship. There are a few scattered slavers but all are wounded and in no shape to keep fighting so I ignore them.

I reach the hull to find the hatches open, obviously they hadn't expected a counterattack or to take such heavy casualties.

I lean in to peek around the edge of the hatch and a bullet zips past, close but not close enough, between my augmented eye and the suit's Head's Up Display I spot five batarians waiting for me to attack.

I decide not to disappoint.

I throw a plasma grenade at the slavers, the bronze cylinder exploding at the feet of the lead batarian, turning him and two more to green goo and killing the other two. As I enter, the compass my Pipboy projects onto the helmet's HUD goes haywire with hostile and docile markers…

* * *

"The Illusive Man wishes to see you, Miranda and Jacob in the Comm Room, Commander," Valerie nodded to the seemingly eternally cheerful yeoman and headed for the comm/briefing room, Kelly Chambers was definitely one of the more likeable crew members but she was still uncomfortable being around so many Cerberus personnel.

The red head walked through the door into the armory, signalled Jacob to follow and continued into the next corridor and into the comm room, Jacob entered shortly after her.

"Any idea what this is about?" the black soldier shook his head.

"No, but if he called all three of us so soon after departure, it must be important," Jacob replied looking worried.

Valerie turned as Miranda entered, noting a similar expression on the Aussie Ice Queen's face, "before you ask Shepard, I have no idea what this is about, as far as I know we haven't been in space long enough for anything to have happened without us noticing," Miranda said.

Valerie was about to reply when the QEC activated, revealing after a few seconds the Illusive Man distracted by something to his right and outside the projection envelope of the QEC.

It was Shepard coughing that brought the man's attention to the fact the device was on.

"Shepard, there's been a development," he stated, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray beside his chair, his voice steady despite his whole body, even his eyes, betraying concern.

"Yesterday when you left, I gave you several Dossiers on potential recruits to your team, unbeknown to me a battle was raging that would require a re-evaluation of that list," he continued.

"What happened?" Shepard asked, starting to feel fear as the Illusive man didn't strike her as someone to easily unnerve.

"Slavers attacked New Berlin, destroying most of the heavy equipment in the opening salvo and landing forces that should have overwhelmed the remaining defenders before help arrived," the Illusive man explained, "They failed… Spectacularly."

"How?" Jacob asked.

"Because of one man possessing technology even the asari couldn't dream of, and the salarians have failed to build for centuries," The Illusive man replied, he then set a vid to play on their end of the QEC.

The three watched in curiosity which fast turned to shock, amazement and finally denial as they watched the battle unfold.

"But… that's… shoulder mounted energy cannon…" Jacob stuttered loudly.

"Impossible," Miranda whispered, "we'd have known if technology like that existed, especially if a human…"

"Cerberus isn't in 1984 Miranda," Valerie rebuked idly, still trying to comprehend exactly what she'd seen, "Is this accurate?" she asked her 'boss'.

"Every second has been verified by our best experts and through discrete enquiries on the ground, what you saw happened," Illusive Man replied flatly, "Until shortly before the attack, officially, this man did not exist."

The Illusive man elaborated at both Shepard's and Miranda's cocked eyebrows, "this man simply did not exist in _any_ form of official records, it is possible he slipped through the cracks in the slums on Earth but that does not explain how he got off Earth without being noticed _somewhere._"

Shepard watched the looping footage for a moment, frowning as she realised something, "wait, roll back to 10:35 and play to 11:07 and loop."

The others watched as the VI complied, not understanding what Shepard was looking at until the second loop.

"What the Hell?"

"Did he just de and re-materialise his clothes, some kind of power armour and an energy rifle?"

"Yeah, but how? I mean, that armour has to weigh between a quarter to half a ton, no human would be able to carry that," Miranda asked.

"I don't know… but I think it has to do with that thing on his wrist," Shepard answered, pointing to the green metal device when the looping footage allowed.

"This could be the greatest breakthrough in Human history," Miranda whispered, Valerie looked to the brunette to see her eyes lit up in wonder, slightly surprised by the lack of the calculating glint almost always present, "If we can persuade them to explain the science," Miranda finished, a little too quickly.

Shepard rolled her eyes, "Do you have the co-ordinates?"

"I'm forwarding them to EDI now, do whatever you have to to secure his services and, if possible, his technology, we can't afford for that kind of tech to find its way into the wrong hands," TIM stated.

"Who're the 'right hands? Cerberus?" Shepard scoffs.

"Right now I'd settle for the Alliance sharing it with the Big Three," Illusive Man declared firmly, "Just make sure this chance isn't wasted."

The projection cut there and Shepard stepped off the pad as it powered down.

"Joker, you have the Co-ordinates?" Shepard asked over the open deck comm.

"_Received Commander, want me to plot a course?"_ Joker replied.

"Do it, and plot courses for the other pick-ups we need to do while you're at it," Shepard confirmed.

"_Got it, let's find us an Uber-High Tech Super Soldier,"_ Shepard had to laugh at Joker's reply.

"When we arrive, I'm taking you two with me. Cerberus is being blamed by some for the attacks so your to wear either Merc Armour or something casual, nothing with Company Logos, clear?" Shepard addressed the two Cerberus regulars, fixing them both with a stare.

Jacob nodded and headed for the Armoury, Miranda glared briefly then nodded slightly and walked out.

Shepard sighed, it seemed like it was going to be one of those days. And no doubt her particular brand of luck would turn it on its head.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Faces, New Places

"Dropping out of FTL, Commander," Joker reported, glancing over his shoulder at Shepard.

"Bring us into orbit over the colony, we'll take a shuttle down," Shepard replied, then looked at the small holo-plate, "EDI, are Miranda and Jacob ready?"

A hologram shaped vaguely like a lightbulb popped up, "Operatives Lawson and Taylor are waiting by the shuttle, both are currently wearing the requested alternative attire."

Shepard felt apprehensive for a moment, Miranda really didn't like not being in charge, so was concerned that the biotic would twist her orders, but dismissed it, Miranda was too professional. She took one last look at the planet and walked into the main CIC, into the lift and punched the button for her cabin.

* * *

Twenty minutes later she was in the lift heading to the cargo hold, one her back was an M-8 Avenger assault rifle and a M-92 Mantis, on her left hip was an M-3 Predator and an M-4 Shuriken on her right and an M-23 on the small of her back.

She spotted Jacob and Miranda as the Lift doors opened, Jacob was inspecting an M-23 and wore his old Onyx light armour, She sighed as she saw Miranda. Miranda was wearing an Ursa Light suit that showed off her figure, _'Probably a size too small'_ she thought, with an M-4 on her left hip and an M-3 on her right. Neither were wearing helmets.

"Ready to go, Commander," Jacob said, spotting Shepard and holstering his shotgun.

"Ready Commander," Miranda said coolly.

"Ok, into shuttle, we'll head down and make discrete inquiries," the two nodded and climbed into the Kodiak, which Jacob had quickly had repainted to hide the Cerberus markings, the hatch closed as Shepard stepped aboard and the engines ignited, the ventral thrusters fired as the cargo bay door opened, lifting the boxy craft off the deck, the aft thrusters fired and pushed the craft out and into space.

* * *

"… _Sinclair! Why Did You Leave Me Here? Sinclair! Sinclair!?"_

"…_I know the Godless Fire that burns in his heart. I've been burned by it too…"_

"… _My History isn't about Revenge or hate. The Road that brought us here – Isn't about that. It's about the Message you carried. The one in that package, whether you knew it or not…"_

"…_This is Three Dog, AAOOOWWW! And You're listening to Galaxy News Radio… Bringing you the Truth! No matter how bad it hurts…"_

"…_Get up without my permission and I'll blast your arse so far through your head, it'll turn the moon cherry red…"_

"…_Better be a shaped charge, or you won't live to see it…"_

"…_My God… it's you! The wee baby boy all grown up…"_

"…_There is a saying in the Wasteland; Old World Blues – It refers to those so obsessed with the past, they can't see the present, much less the future, for what it is…"_

"… _You see that you and I are of a different stripe, don't you? We don't have to __**Dream**__ we are important, We __**Are**__…"_

"… _Today's weather will be slightly cloudy with a good chance of Artillery Fire…"_

"…_Finding it though, that's not the hard part. It's letting go…"_

"…_I'm Sorry. You're a Hero, but… You have to leave…"_

"Orion Black?"

The former Courier opened his eyes as he was pulled from his memories, he twisted slightly in his seat, his right hand leaving his scotch glass to rest on his thigh, just above his CR-2.

Standing behind him was a 5' 11 woman with fiery red hair and emerald eyes wearing the N7 variant of Alliance Onyx Armour, with each mount sporting a weapon. Behind her was an African-American man wearing an older infantry issue Onyx armour with a shotgun and sidearm, and an ivory skinned women with long brown, wavy hair, pale blue eyes, standing roughly 5' 5 in light Ursa armour.

Running his eyes over all three he recognised their potential combat roles from their gear and the odd energy his eye could just make out radiating faintly from the redhead and more noticeably from the man and brunette, _'A Soldier, Vanguard and a Sentinel, wonder who I pissed off in a past life,'_ he thought before he recognised the red head.

"That's me," he said, carefully watching the Soldier, "And you, look like Commander Shepard, one ghost to another, you look pretty healthy for a corpse," he gestured to the stool next to him and turned back to the bar.

Shepard and Jacob blinked in surprise as Miranda's eyes widened, Shepard sent the two a look then settled onto the offered stool.

"Modern medicine can do wonders," Shepard replied.

"Being too stubborn to die helps," Black retorted, taking a sip from his glass.

Shepard cocked an eyebrow, "speaking from experience?"

"I don't know how many times I've lived when I shouldn't have, hell, once I was hogtied and shot in the head twice at five feet," Black admitted, "dug up from a shallow grave and was walking the Long 15 five days later."

Shepard stared in disbelief, her head was screaming bullshit, but his body language indicated he was telling the truth, if anything he was being _modest_, "I guess there's some truth to that."

"More than you know," Black murmured so low only Miranda caught it, "So, what brings you looking for an Old World Ghost like me?" he asked.

"I'm putting a Team together for a difficult, some would say suicidal, Mission," Shepard answered, curious why he called himself and her ghosts, "you're on my list."

Black looked at her, "Me? Or my technology?"

Shepard and, though she didn't see it, Miranda flinched, "That obvious?"

"No shit, Sherlock," Black muttered sarcastically, "The Alliance is only just sorting out the rescued slaves, hearing stories of a massive armoured soldier killing slavers with Energy Weapons. What do you think?"

Shepard grimaced but carried on, "Both really, even if we could acquire your technology, you're the only person who understands it right now."

"Give me the details and I'll consider it," Black said, "but I reserve the right to refuse."

"Fair enough," Shepard agreed, "Several independent Human colonies have been attacked, no evidence of weapons fire, injuries, everyone… just gone, no evidence anything is wrong besides the missing people."

"But you found something?" Black deduced.

"A Quarian was on Freedom's Progress, the measure the attackers used seems tailored to humans, or perhaps they were only expecting humans so didn't check for anyone else, that Quarian succeeded in hiding and captured the attackers on a security feed. They're a race known as the Collectors," Shepard explained, "They seem to use a form of miniature probe to paralyse their victims."

"Isn't the Alliance doing something?" Black asked.

"Not that I can see," Shepard admitted bitterly, "but they have begun an outreach program to the outer colonies, it might be a cover for an investigation or fortifications."

Black stared into his whiskey thoughtfully, "And what's _Your_ plan, Shepard?" his eyes, eyes that spoke of outliving horrors beyond her worst nightmares, seemed to bore into her soul.

"I'm building a team in order to strike back," Shepard answered firmly, them her face fell, "The Alliance left me for dead, I've had to accept support from… a less desirable Sponsor."

Black gave her a look as Miranda cocked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, "Let me guess, your corpse was recovered by a controversial and/or extremist group who bankrupted themselves bringing you back? And then dropped a bombshell in your lap so you couldn't just wash your hands of them?"

Shepard nodded grimly as Jacob stared in disbelief, only Black catching Miranda's jaw drop.

"Do you have a target?" Black asked after Miranda composed herself, "I've done my share of One Way Trips, but they've always had a clear objective."

"The Collectors originate from the Omega 4 Relay," Shepard replied.

"Isn't that a dead end?" Black asked curiously.

"The Collectors somehow can safely pass," Shepard replied, "An advanced IFF maybe?"

"Maybe," Black mused, "But why? Debris field or other hazard on the other side as trap? With the only way to avoid it is an advanced transit programme tuned to the IFF?"

"Most likely," Shepard agreed, "Either that or some nasty defences."

"So how exactly do you plan to get past?" to her credit Shepard held the former Pitt Fighter's gaze.

"By sneaking past on the most advanced stealth ship in existence," Shepard replied proudly.

Black looked at her thoughtfully, then drained his glass.

"_If_ I join," he began after a moment, "There has to be an Official Alliance presence, doesn't matter if it's only one man, but there must be one. I've been shafted by too many 'under-the-table' ops before to consider joining one without insurance."

Shepard stared as Miranda and Jacob shared a shocked look.

"That might not be possible," Shepard said slowly, "My sponsor is basically _Persona Non Grata_ to the Alliance."

"And does anyone know?" Black retorted, "As long as you don't fly around with their flag on the hull, who'd be any the wiser?"

Shepard looked at Miranda nervously, who was looking at her toes embarrassedly. Now she thought about it, it was pretty stupid to fly a ship with Cerberus markings proudly displayed through the heart of the territories of several governments hostile to them.

"Lawson, before we leave, arrange for a few hundred gallons of paint to be delivered," Shepard whispered, the Aussie nodded, ashamed of her glaring mistake.

"Black and white," she added before turning back to Black.

"Something wrong?" he asked, amusement light on his voice.

"We may have overlooked something when we left spacedock," Shepard admitted.

"A coat of paint can hide a multitude of sins," Black said sagely, earning a faint blush from Miranda and making Shepard and Jacob shake their heads.

"As I said, it might not be possible," Shepard said, getting back on track, "but I'll try."

"For now, that's all I'll ask," he replied, "but I'll head my own way if nothing is done." Shepard accepted the warning.

"Fair enough," she said, shaking the merc's hand, "do you need to wrap anything up or can you leave now?"

"I've said my goodbyes," Black replied, "Though they think I'm heading to Earth."

"Then I guess we should head back to the shuttle," Shepard said, standing up.

"You know the way."

* * *

"Welcome to the Normandy," Black was looking round at the walls in interest, not responding to Jacob for several moments.

"Not the largest ship I've been on, or most impressive, but certainly cleaner, more homely," Shepard didn't know whether to be insulted or complimented.

"There's a strict Chain of Command on this vessel, obey any given orders and there'll be no problems," Miranda stated, ignoring the cold look from Black that sent shivers down Jacob's spine and left Shepard uncomfortable.

"My deal is with Shepard, I'll only listen to _Her_ orders, don't get any ideas Cheerleader."

"We've got one more stop before we head for the Citadel, and my meeting with the Councillor," Shepard explained, "Then I'll find out if the Alliance can send someone."

"That's all I can ask for now," Black shrugged, "Where shall I set up? I have a surprising amount of gear and I'll need a couple of workbenches."

"_There is space in the starboard cargo bay on Deck 4 which would suit your needs, Mr Black,"_ replied a synthesised female voice, the avatar popping up in the centre of the table made Shepard face palm.

"An AI?" Black asked, "Or a very well programmed VI?"

Jacob and Shepard looked surprised he wasn't immediately hostile or at least wary of EDI, "EDI is a fully sentient AI."

Shepard's surprise was doubled by Black's response, "I thought the tech wasn't available to produce a stable AI?"

Shepard and Jacob shared a glance, the question hadn't actually come up before, but Miranda scoffed, "Cerberus has access to resources other organisations can only dream of," she replied haughtily, "Though I doubt you'd appreciate that."

Shepard sent a warning glare to the brunette, but Black's had Miranda's attention, "I have a very good idea of the resources necessary, cheerleader," he stepped closer, right into her face, her nose wrinkled as the smell and even burn of spent cordite assaulted her senses, "I've worked with technologies you can't possibly understand, held Wonders of the Old World that make your weapons look like plastic toys, I've done things, been places beyond your wildest dreams," he then stepped back and started to walk away, "Go home to Daddy, Little Girl, I'm too old to babysit," he then turned his back on her, missing her body shaking and the angry biotic aura surrounding her, "If you want me I'll be down below," he said to Shepard and started to walk out of the room.

Suddenly a biotic orb shot across the room and slammed in Orion's back, sending him flying. He struck the frame of the open door across his shoulders; his body twisted in the air then struck the bulkhead opposite with a sickening crunch and fell awkwardly into a heap.

Miranda stared in horror, the satisfying rush that had calmed her uncontrollable fury vanished as her mind processed what she'd just done, she distantly heard Shepard bellow at her but could only focus on the body of the man in front of her, until a biotic field trapped her body, lifting her into the air and spreading her arms and legs like the Vitruvian man.

"MIRANDA LAWSON!" Shepard bellowed, lifting the Cerberus Loyalist off the deck and fully preparing to send the Bitch through the bulkhead, blinked as a bright blue teardrop shot across the room with a synthesized whoosh sound, passing below the junction of the brunettes legs by inches, though it would have been on course for the woman's stomach were she still standing on the deck, and passing through the rear bulkhead like it was paper, which with Miranda's scream made her drop the brunette in surprise.

There was a sickening metallic screech and the ship lurched violently, throwing Jacob into the hall and Shepard across the table, another scream from Miranda made Shepard look up, to find the brunette clutching the back of her head and an angry red edged hole in the bulkhead.

The lights failed, sending the room into darkness before the red emergency lights came on.

"Fuck!" Shepard twisted her body to look at the owner of the voice, Orion was propped up on his left arm, his right holding a strange angular rifle with a rectangular muzzle and a foot long chamber made of a ribbed transparent crystal, which contained a swirling energy cloud that glowed blue, the light of which mixed with the red emergency lights to illuminate him and Jacob in a violet glow, both were glancing nervously at the walls and ceiling.

"_Joker to Shepard! Commander pick up the phone!_"

Shepard hit the comm bud in her ear and opened a channel, "I'm here Joker, what happened?"

"_Something as hot as a sun struck the Drive Core's casing, we were milliseconds from a breach before EDI pulled the plug, we're virtually drifting in space."_

"_I analysed the sensor logs and calculated the trajectory and concluded it came from the comm room, however I was unable to determine the cause as the sensors in the comm room are malfunctioning," _EDI added_._

"Malfunctioning?" Shepard asked.

"That would be me, machines have a hard time getting a read on me after one of my augmentations, and an involuntary one at that," Orion explained uncomfortably, avoiding incredulous looks from Jacob and a partially recovered Miranda.

"Estimate on repairs?" Shepard asked, sending Orion a look that said she was going to ask later.

"_Eight hours at least, good thing we were already in the same system as our target," Joker replied, "At least four hours at sublights, they should be safe to use in thirty minutes."_

"Confirmed, call me when it's done," Shepard said.

"_Aye Aye, Commander," _Joker replied.

Shepard glared at Black, "Care to explain?"

"I was attacked; I returned fire," Black answered bluntly, "not my fault if your ship builders can't build a ship able to withstand energy weapons."

"Actually, it is," Jacob commented, "The hull and internal spaces are made using a high density…"

"Density is irrelevant, it's sheer Mass that protects you," Black snapped.

"That's a load of crap," Miranda muttered, not quite recovered from the shock and wincing from the pain in some very delicate places, she needed to see Chakwas.

"Evidence to the contrary right behind you," Black retorted.

Shepard grimaced as Miranda slowly turned to look at the glowing hole before turning back to stare in disbelief at Black.

"Jacob, show Black to his new quarters, Miranda, get to Chakwas…"

"I-I… I think I need help," Miranda replied softly, very obviously in pain as she tried to stand up.

"Go," was all Shepard said to the two males as she went to help Miranda, they took the hint and left.

* * *

Seven hours later, Shepard left the Elevator and turned left to the Starboard Cargo Bay, she stopped in surprise when the door didn't automatically open.

"EDI, is something wrong with this door?" Shepard asked.

"Not that I am aware of, Commander. However, Manual activation protocols are engage, if the door doesn't open after trying the manual interface, I suggest knocking."

Shepard briefly wondered if EDI was joking, but remembered Joker's complaint regarding her sense of humour… or lack thereof.

Shepard raised her hand and knocked, deciding to just get on with it.

The door opened to reveal an energy field unlike any kinetic barrier she'd ever seen before, which deactivated a second later.

"Shepard, I wondered when you'd come round," Shepard didn't reply, instead taking in the multitude of possessions she would have sworn Black could not have carried.

There were three stands holding two suits of bulky, plated armour:

The first two were identical, both looking primitive, with exposed servos, large thickly insulated wires and hydraulic lines and small compared to the others, only differing in their markings: the first having a Lion Rampant in a white circle with a winged sword beneath it with the wings reaching around the circle in blue. The second had white five pointed star in a blue circle with a red line running underneath and out both sides on the shoulder pads and a circle of thirteen stars around a single large star on the upper chest.

The next two were significantly more advanced in terms of the plating and there were no obvious signs of servos, wires or hydraulics, they did have ridiculously large curved shoulder pads as opposed to the earlier type's long straight ones. Again the difference appeared to be the paint scheme, the left one steel grey with a green chest plate and brown ballistic cloth, and the right being steel grey and white camouflage.

It was the next pair that really drew her attention. The first was dark grey with a black under suit, it was angular and heavily stylised, in the right lighting it would look almost demonic, there were two sets of pauldrons, the first (on the armour but clearly new) were partial hemispheres contoured to fit the shoulder, the second (sitting on the stand next to a helmet with wicked amber eyes that resembled a wolf's head) were vertical, shaped vaguely like a skate or ray and curved into a half cylinder of sorts. The helmet combined elements of both the 'Wolf's Head' and the Winter Armour's helmet.

The second was similar to the last, except it had swamp green plating. There was a back pack of two large framed cylinders that seemed to be a type of miniaturised Fusion Reactor. The pauldrons looked like the new type on the black armour but were, apparently, original, there were a number of bulb like objects arranged across the pauldrons and down the body connected by wires that even now slightly glowed with energy.

The next stands held four suits of armour with a fifth hanging on a coat hanger.

The first was a brown trenchcoat over moulded black ballistic armour with LAPD stamped on the right breast. Shepard recognised it as both the armour Black wore in the video and when they met, minus the enclosed helmet.

The second was a dark grey suit with white stripes running down the sides, a white chest/back plate and knee pads, black gloves and black boots.

The third was a shamrock green armour and helmet with fatigues the same colour, on the left side under the collar were the words Reilly's Rangers and on the right breast were two crossed sabres of a four leaf clover.

The fourth suit was a worn full torso stab proof vest with ballistic reinforcement over a reinforced blue leather jump suit with yellow marking, black gloves, black boots and a black riot helmet with plexiglass visor.

The last was a very used jumpsuit like the last but with amateur armour reinforcements.

Shepard's gaze moved on to the next rack, which held a mix of strange weapons, from the rifle Black crippled the ship with, to long boxy rifles, to what looked like an old fashioned Gauss weapon and a strange weapon with a transparent green muzzle and another next to it with three stubby green barrels.

The next rack held a collection of honest to God firearms with a bench holding magazines and ammunition on one side and a workbench holding a partially disassembled example one of the rifles and a disassembled M-96 Mattock.

At the wall facing the bow furthest from the door was the bed, to its left, her right, was another set of racks holding what could only be described as light (and some perhaps not so light) artillery.

The next bench held numerous yellow and red cylinders as well as what looked like clips of three old AA batteries welded together in neat (relatively) piles as well as two other devices, one of which resembled a 19th century ammo pouch, the other a large satchel, both containing some strange technology that was plugged into a yellow cylinder each.

"Quite the collection," Shepard commented, both seriously confused and impressed that he could apparently carry all this.

"A decade's worth of memories are held in most of these pieces," Black admitted.

"All this, in just one decade?" Shepard asked in amazement, stepping over to examine the winterised armour.

Black watched her for a moment, deep in thought, "Shepard, what do you really think of me? Where I come from?"

Shepard stopped, thinking of how to say it, "I'm not sure," she admitted after a moment, "There's no paper trail before New Berlin, my Sponsor suggested you could have slipped through the cracks in the slums, it does happen, but that doesn't explain your technology… You certainly didn't just find it, you're obviously intimately familiar with the mechanics at least, if not the science."

She shook her head in disbelief, "There's only one reasonable explanation, but… but it's crazy! …Impossible… I may as well be locked in a rubber room like the Council wants for thinking it!"

"When you have eliminated the Impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Black quoted.

"Arthur Conan Doyle," Shepard replied, smiling as she recognised the quote, she turned to look at the enigma beside her, "My conclusion is that you are from another time, reality, or both."

To her surprise, Black nodded, "I came to the same conclusion, I have a theory as to how, but the why is beyond me."

"And what's _your_ theory?" Shepard asked.

"There was a malfunction with the Teleport device I was using," Black shrugged, "Yes, Teleporters are possible, but I myself don't understand the science. It was a point-to-point system, not unlike Primary Mass Relays, where you'd be sent to one of two beacons if you activated a handheld transponder in range of either beacon, being sent to the respective other. I don't know if the fault was with the transponder, the beacons or the fixed unit itself, but somehow it sent me to New Berlin."

"Sit down, I'll give you a short version of my life, it'll help you understand," Black suggested, indicated a crate as he settled on the bed, Shepard sat down and waited for him to start. She be able to judge from his behaviour if he was telling the truth, at least as he knew it, or if he was a talented actor.

"I was born in Washington DC, under the Jefferson Memorial, on July 13th 2258, my parents were James and Catherine Black, a married couple working as Scientist on Project Purity…"


End file.
